Only 17% Of LA Households Earn Enough To Buy A Home (2024)

FAQs

How much do you have to earn to buy a house in Los Angeles? ›

According to the website HowMuch.net, your household needs to make roughly $95,000 a year to be able to afford the median home in L.A., which they value at around $480,000. Using these metrics, you would need to earn around $237,500 (or more) to afford the current median home in LA.

Only 17 Percent of Current Residents Can Afford to Buy a California Home in 2024.

According to the Redfin study, the income needed to buy a median-priced home in L.A. has soared by 40.7% in one year. In 2021, anyone looking to buy a home in the city of Angels needed to make $157,000 a year. However, now, that same person would need to make $64,000 more, or $221,000, to buy a median-priced home.

It's the idea that you should budget a minimum of 30% of your gross monthly income (i.e., your before-tax income) for housing costs, and it's practically a personal finance gospel. Rent calculators often use the 30% rule as a default assumption to determine how much house you can afford.

According to the study, a Los Angeles resident without children would need to make $76,710 after taxes to live comfortably. The study is based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which uses the cost of housing, food, transportation, medical care and more.

As a rule of thumb, a good salary in Los Angeles is between $100k and $200k gross per year. Based on the cost of living in Los Angeles, this should come down to a minimum of $76,710 yearly after taxes.

To afford an $800,000 house, you typically need an annual income between $200,000 to $260,000, depending on your financial situation, down payment, credit score, and current market conditions. However, this is a general range, and your specific circ*mstances will determine the exact income required.

Affordability depends on both the costs of the housing, as well as the income and/or wages of households. Annual household income needed to qualify for a mortgage on a mid-tier California home in March 2024 was about $235,000—over 2 times the median California household income in 2022 ($85,300).

In California, 17.1% of households earn incomes of $100,000 to $149,999, with 15.3% earning $50,000 to $74,999 and 13.3% earning $200,000 or more. Among married-couple family households, more than a fifth (20.8%) report household incomes of $100,000 to $149,999, with another fifth (20.1%) earning $200,000 or more.

But the data on page 8 of the 2023 State Income Limits paper rocked the region: It stated that a family of four earning less than $100,900 a year in Los Angeles County was classified as low-income. Earn six figures in most cities, and you're living large. But here, you may well be scraping by.

Why is LA so unaffordable? ›

Here's why: State and Local Taxes: California has some of the highest state tax rates in the country, and LA has additional local taxes, adding to your overall tax bill. Sales Taxes: The sales tax in LA is higher than the national average, increasing the cost of goods and services.

If you are a single person in Los Angeles making around $70,000 a year, you are still considered low-income, according to a new statewide study. The California Department of Housing and Community Development released the report in June and found that income limits have increased in most counties across California.

The 50/30/20 budget rule states that you should spend up to 50% of your after-tax income on needs and obligations that you must have or must do. The remaining half should be split between savings and debt repayment (20%) and everything else that you might want (30%).

According to the 28/36 rule, you should spend no more than 28% of your gross monthly income on housing and no more than 36% on all debts. Housing costs can include: Your monthly mortgage payment. Homeowners Insurance. Private mortgage insurance.

Consider comfort levels. Buyers are coming up with their own rules these days, based on their individual goals, priorities,and other debts. While the 30% rule may still work for some, each individual homebuyer should feel comfortable and confident with what they choose to spend on housing.

New homebuyers now need to make at least more than $106,000 now to comfortably afford a 30-year home mortgage with a 10% down payment, Zillow said. However, a typical U.S. household earns about $81,000 per year, making homeownership a distant dream for many, according to Zillow.

With a chronic housing shortage and some of the wealthiest residents in the U.S., California contains many of the most expensive markets to buy a typical home, with seven requiring earnings of $200,000 or more. New York City wasn't far behind on the list, ranking 11th overall.

To afford a $650,000 house, you typically need an annual income between $160,000 to $215,000, depending on your financial situation, down payment, credit score, and current market conditions. However, this is a general range, and your specific circ*mstances will determine the exact income required.